Shanna Reviews: The Rules of Ever After by Killian B. Brewer

Blurb:
The rules of royal life have governed the kingdoms of Clarameer for thousands of years, but Prince Phillip and Prince Daniel know that these rules don’t provide for the happily ever after they seek.

A fateful, sleepless night brings the two young men together and sends them on a quest out into the kingdoms. On their travels, they encounter meddlesome fairies, an ambitious stepmother, disgruntled princesses and vengeful kings as they learn about life, love, friendship and family. Most of all, the two young men must learn how to write their own rules of ever after.

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Shanna Reviews and Giveaway: Despite the Odds by Chris T. Kat (Odds Are Book 1)

Blurb:
Never judge a book by its cover.

Michael Campbell can’t hold a job for more than a few days. He’s lucky his foreman is giving him another chance with the solar panel project at a primary school in Atlantic City. When he spies a man walking strangely in front of the school, Michael laughs, assuming he’s drunk or high. Little does he realize that Joshua Stone, a teaching assistant, has cerebral palsy, and he’s having a bad muscle control day. Taking a tumble right in front of the handsome construction worker is just his luck.

When Michael learns the truth, he feels badly for his cruel behavior. He offers to give Joshua—and his tricycle, the Racing Rhonda—a lift. Joshua accepts the help, and suddenly there’s a gorgeous man breezing into his life, turning his world upside down. But Michael has more issues than his inability to hold down a job, and neither man is sure if they’ll be able to overcome their fears in order to be together.

Shanna Reviews, Guest Post and Giveaway: Love Spell by Mia Kerick

Blurb:
Strutting his stuff on the catwalk in black patent leather pumps and a snug orange tuxedo as this year’s Miss (ter) Harvest Moon feels so very right to Chance César, and yet he knows it should feel so very wrong.

As far back as he can remember, Chance has been “caught between genders.” (It’s quite a touchy subject; so don’t ask him about it.) However, he does not question his sexual orientation. Chance has no doubt about his gayness—he is very much out of the closet at his rural New Hampshire high school, where the other students avoid the kid they refer to as “girl-boy.”

But at the local Harvest Moon Festival, when Chance, the Pumpkin Pageant Queen, meets Jasper Donahue, the Pumpkin Carving King, sparks fly. So Chance sets out, with the help of his BFF, Emily, to make “Jazz” Donahue his man.

An article in an online women’s magazine, Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man Fall in Love with You (with a bonus love spell thrown in for good measure), becomes the basis of their strategy to capture Jazz’s heart.

Quirky, comical, definitely flamboyant, and with an inner core of poignancy, Love Spell celebrates the diversity of a gender-fluid teen.

Shanna Reviews, Guest Post and Giveaway: Love Complicated by Teegan Loy

Blurb:
Life is all about making choices. Some are complicated. Some are simple. But for eighteen-year-old Jalen Marten, none are easy. Jalen has managed to stay invisible for his entire high school career. He has a small group of friends, and it’s enough for him. He doesn’t want or crave attention from his peers. All Jalen wants is to survive high school.

Austin Suter is the hot, talented tennis player who has the entire school bowing at his feet. Girls routinely throw themselves at him, and boys like Jalen stay the hell out of his way. Austin is destined for greatness on the world stage of professional tennis.

The kiss between them wasn’t supposed to happen. Falling in love definitely hadn’t been part of Jalen’s plan.

And when Austin turns pro, Jalen begins to realize that the choices he makes will affect Austin’s life. One wrong choice and Austin’s career could be over before it really begins. Jalen is not sure where he fits, or even if he fits at all in Austin’s life. But the more complicated things become, the less the idea of being apart appeals. Love should simplify things, not complicate them.

Shanna Reviews: Light in Endless Darkness by Huston Piner (Possible Spoilers)

Blurb:
Kevin Reeves lives with his mother and abusive father and dreams of going to Dickerson University. Lonely and easily cowed, he works as a janitor to save money and signs up for night courses at the community college. There, he meets Dominic Pierce, a sexy emo who also happens to be blind. Kevin is immediately attracted to Dominic and soon a mutual attraction develops into a full-blown romance. After a violent confrontation with his father leads to Kevin moving in with Dominic, he discovers that the neighborhood gang is terrified of the blind emo, referring to him as El Sanguijuela.

Meanwhile, Jacky Larson, who outed Kevin as a sophomore, begins blackmailing him for sex at work, leaving him ashamed and panicked that Dominic will dump him if he finds out. But Dominic has dark secrets of his own, including a job he won’t discuss that keeps him away from sunup to sunset and secret nightly excursions. Can Kevin get away from his blackmailer without losing Dominic in the process? Will he ever discover what Dominic does all day and where he sneaks out to every night? And can their love survive when Kevin finally uncovers the truth?

Shanna Reviews: Sumeria’s Sons Series by Lexi Ander

Blurb:
Twin Flames (Book 1)
A Lycan descendant of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, Tristan is not as extraordinary as his ancestors. He is an average warrior, unremarkable throughout. But this fact does not trouble him because he has found his Twin Flame, the one person destined to be his, who will love him unconditionally, life after life.

Then his Flame betrays him, leaving him shattered and dying. Brokenhearted, Tristan dissolves the sacred bond and leaves. His best friend, Ushna, accompanies him, vowing to guard and protect him, and Tristan slowly comes to realize that love does not require a sacred bond.

But if he hopes to keep the love he chooses, they will first have to survive ancient secrets, lies, mythical creatures, and the return of absent gods…

Note: This book was previously released by another publisher. It has been revised and re-edited for release with Less than Three Press.

Blurb:
Songs of the Earth (Book 2)
Thrust into the role of Prince of the Lycans, Tristan strives to find his footing in a life suddenly rife with secrets and lies–and danger. Betrayed by a Goddess meant to safeguard him, desperate to protect his consort and their growing tribe, he can only prepare for the worst and struggle to hope.

And then the worst comes to kill them…

Blurb:
Dreams of the Forgotten (Book 3)
For Tristan and Ushna, nothing comes easy and with each passing day the challenges grow and the dangers multiply. The safe home they are building for their family and tribe is threatened from all sides, and the peace they seek is being torn apart by enemies and internal strife. Tristan dares not reveal his condition to any but those closest to him, all the while he’s plagued by dreams he cannot remember upon waking…

And over all of it hangs the knowledge that his time with Ushna is running out. Because Ushna already has a Flame awaiting rebirth, and though Tristan would die to protect that bond, he constantly struggles against his beast who demands they bind Ushna to their side.

Review:
I have to say that that I expected quite a bit from these books. I was really excited by the premise but the author was unable to weave together all the disparate parts of her world and her tale into a coherent whole. There was just too much going on, we have gods, then epic lovers, then reincarnated soul mates and so on.  It just got to be too much to keep track of, the main love story Tristan and Ushna is the only thing that kept me going. But even that was wrought with so much myth it was hard to follow all the twists and turns of their history. The premise is great and the love story is epic, I just think that the execution was a little rushed and a whole lot under developed. This is such an promising story that I  think with a little polish it would be amazing epic. There are glimpses of this brilliance but as a whole it just doesn’t come together. The reason that I reviewed these books as a whole, is because they can’t truthfully be separated from each other, and they don’t stand alone either.
Stars:
Three

About Lexi:
Lexi has always been an avid reader and at a young age started reading (secretly) her mother’s romances (the ones she was told not to touch). She was the only teenager she knew of who would be grounded from reading. Later, with a pencil and a note book, she wrote her own stories and shared them with friends because she loved to see their reactions. A Texas transplant, Lexi now kicks her boots up in the Midwest with her Yankee husband and her 80 lbs. puppies named after vacuum cleaners.

Author Contact:
Website: http://www.lexiander.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LexiAnder
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lexi.ander.9

Where To Buy:
Twin Flames:
Less Than Three Press | All Romance | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookstrand

Songs of the Earth:
Less Than Three Press | All Romance | Amazon | B&N | Bookstrand

Dreams of the Forgotten:
LT3 Press | All Romance | Amazon